Finextra Research: Latest fintech news, analysis, interviews, features and opinion by industry experts

Santander launches global blockchain challenge

Banco Santander and Oxentia Foundation are inviting startups and scaleups from 11 countries to compete in a blockchain challenge and the chance to win cash prizes.

29 April 2022

News/devops

Finastra announces Hack to the Future 4 winners

Finastra has named the winners of its Hack to the Future 4 annual global hackathon.

28 April 2022

Company update/startups

DeFi and Web3 outfit Argent raises $40m

To accelerate its mission to build one app for all things DeFi and Web3, Argent has today raised $40m in Series B funding.

28 April 2022

News/startups

DeFi investment bank Ondo raises $30m

A group of former Goldman Sachs traders has raised $20 million in Series A funding to build a decentralised investment bank called Ondo Finance.

28 April 2022

News/wholesale

Citi invests in SME finance platform Crowdz

Citi has led a $10 million funding round for Crowdz as part of a wider collaboration with the SME finance platform to develop SaaS receivables as an asset class.

26 April 2022

Company update/regulation

Abu Dhabi regulator issues DeFi discussion paper

The Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) of Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) has issued a discussion paper on DeFi, in order to engage with industry practitioners and other stakeholders to explore the potential opportunities arising from DeFi, associated risks and what a future regulatory framework may resemble.

13 April 2022

Company update/startups

RociFi raises $2.7m

RociFi, a decentralized zero and under-collateralized lending protocol, has announced completing a seed funding round of $2.7 million USD (closed in November 2021) from Arrington, Goldentree, Nexo, LD Capital and Skynet Trading.

12 April 2022

Company update/crypto

Stablecoin cross-border payment network Arf announces credit line

Traditionally, when a money service business (MSB) wants to send money from one country to another, it has to prefund the same amount in the receiving country, bringing about tied capital, high opportunity cost, and operational inefficiencies. What's more, since cross-border transactions are often considered risky, access to credit has always been a major problem for MSBs.

08 April 2022

News/regulation

IFGS 2022: Stablecoin news sparks mixed response from crypto lawyers

Speaking on the ‘Crypto Rebooted: 2021 and Beyond’ during day two of the IFGS conference, Barnaby Reynolds, global head of the Financial Services Industry Group, Shearman & Sterling, played down the significance of HM Treasury’s announcement yesterday regarding the regulation of stablecoin use the UK.

05 April 2022

News/crypto

Chancellor asks Royal Mint to create NFT

The UK government has commissioned the Royal Mint to create an NFT as part of a push to make the country a "global hub for cryptoasset technology".

05 April 2022

News/crypto

IFGS 2022: HM Treasury confirms regulation of stablecoin use

Speaking at the Innovate Finance Global Summit (IFGS) conference on Monday, Economic Secretary to the Treasury John Glen announced that legislation will be introduced to bring certain stablecoins into the UK payments framework, as well as projects to tackle broader crypto regulation and decentralised autonomous organisations (DAOs).

04 April 2022

News/regulation

IFGS 2022: Taking the pulse of UK fintech

Following welcome addresses from Catherine McGuinness, chair, Policy and Resources Committee, City of London Corporation, and Janine Hirt, CEO, Innovate Finance, the Innovate Finance Global Summit took off with a panel stacked with leading fintech voices.

04 April 2022

News/predictions

Metaverse economy could hit $13 trillion by 2030 - Citi

The Metaverse economy could be wort up to $13 trillion by 2030 while what counts as money in this next generation of the internet will look very different from today, according to a new report from Citi.

04 April 2022

News/devops

ADGM and Finastra join forces for ‘Hack to the Future 4’

The Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) has partnered with Finastra for its globally renowned fintech hackathon, Hack to the Future 4.

01 April 2022

Company update/crypto

DeFi incubator AQRU boasts 10,000 customers

AQRU plc, an incubator specialising in decentralised finance (“DeFi”), is pleased to announce that its wholly owned subsidiary, Accru Finance Ltd. (“Accru Finance”), has signed up over 10,000 customer accounts and reached £16.5 million in assets under management on its proprietary cryptocurrency yield-generating platform, AQRU.io, a significant milestone in the Company’s growth.

01 April 2022

News/regulation

UK regulators publish slew of papers on cryptoasset regulation

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Bank of England, and Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) have released a raft of documents warning financial institutions of their responsibilities around cryptoassets and the direction of regulation in the space.

25 March 2022

News/regulation

Financial regulators probe DeFi markets

International securities regulator Iosco is setting up a task force to examine the risks and opportunities arising from decentralised finance (DeFI), which it says is quickly evolving to mirror conventional financial markets.

24 March 2022

News/crypto

Microsoft joins $450m ConsenSys funding round

Microsoft has joined a $450 million funding round for ConsenSys that values the blockchain software engineering firm at $7 billion.

16 March 2022

Company update/crypto

Cake DeFi launches $100 million venture capital arm

Cake DeFi, a Singapore-based fintech platform that makes DeFi (decentralised finance) services and applications accessible for everyone, has launched Cake DeFi Ventures (CDV), its venture capital arm with US$100 million in earmarked capital.

10 March 2022

News/devops

Finextra partners with Finastra for Hack to the Future 4

Finextra has today announced a partnership with financial services software provider, Finastra, for its annual event, Hack to the Future.

08 March 2022